Aquarium owners have long been familiar with the problem of dirty aquariums. The glass walls and the gravel at the bottom of the tank offer convenient collection points for dirt, debris, algae, decayed food and other contaminants. In order to ensure that the aquarium environment is safe for the fish, these contaminants need to be dislodged and removed on a regular basis. However, the aquarium must be cleaned without contaminating all of the water.
In the past, the walls of the aquariums were cleaned by scrubbing the glass using hand-held pads, brushes, sponges, mitts or scrapers, while the gravel was typically cleaned by agitating the gravel with similar instruments to dislodge the contaminants. Oftentimes these devices were attached to long handles for extended reach. In order to prevent the dislodged dirt, debris, etc., from contaminating the water and harming the fish, the dirty water needed to be removed from the aquarium. Thus, a siphon tube was typically used to draw the contaminated water out of the tank. The contaminated water was then disposed of or filtered and recycled back into the aquarium. Many times, the siphon tube itself was used to agitate and manipulate the gravel, although this method resulted in very inefficient cleaning.
Despite precautions, each of the above described methods usually releases a large quantity of contaminants into the water, which makes the water extremely cloudy, creates a safety hazard for the fish in the tank, overloads the filtering system, and interferes with the cleaning process. Accordingly, there exists a need for an aquarium cleaning device that quickly and efficiently cleans the walls, the gravel, and other aquarium components, without releasing an appreciable quantity of contaminants into the water.
The aquarium cleaning device according to the present invention uses a rotating scrub brush or agitator which is driven by a hand held cordless screw driver. The rotating brush allows the aquarium owner to clean the aquarium in a fraction of the time than was possible with prior art methods. Also, the rotating brush mechanism fits inside a siphon tube so that the loosened contaminants are confined to the interior of the siphon tube where they can be quickly and easily drawn out for disposal or filtering. Thus, the aquarium water is less cloudy during the cleaning process, which makes it easier to clean the aquarium, and potential harm to the fish is minimized. The rotating brush assembly has a central rotating drive shaft surrounded by an elongated tube. One end of the drive shaft is provided with a drive bit which is adapted to be connected to any commercially available hand held cordless screwdriver. The brush or agitator attachment is secured to the opposite end of the drive shaft. The tube and brush assembly are positioned inside a siphon tube so that the drive bit protrudes from one end of the siphon tube while the rotating brush or agitator protrudes from the opposite end of the siphon tube. The brush or agitator is rotated by the cordless screw driver attached to the bit.
The majority of the contaminants dislodged by the brush are confined to the interior of the siphon tube by a siphon hose connected to the siphon tube, which continuously draws water through the siphon tube, thereby removing the cloudy, contaminated water from the aquarium. The water may be either filtered and re-routed into the aquarium or disposed of. To clean gravel, a separate agitator attachment may be used in place of the brush. In one embodiment of the invention, an impeller attached to the rotating shaft draws water out of the siphon tube. Thus, the present invention allows the user to quickly and effectively clean aquariums without contaminating the aquarium water and harming the fish.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an aquarium cleaning device that can be used to quickly and effectively clean aquariums. Another object of this invention is to provide an aquarium cleaning device that has a brush or agitator attachment secured to a rotating drive shaft, all of which is housed in a siphon tube.
Another object of this invention is to provide an aquarium cleaning device that confines the loosened dirt, debris, and other contaminants to a confined area thus preventing the debris from contaminating the rest of the aquarium.
Still another object of this invention is provide an aquarium cleaning device that prevents debris from being distributed around the aquarium.
These and other objects of the invention will become evident upon a reading of the following detailed description.